When it comes to the future of AI, we – like seemingly everyone else – have way more questions than answers. Could European legislation do anything to protect us from job losses and “rogue” models? Can the chatbots created on this continent compete with those being developed by the US and China? What would it mean to win (or lose) the “AI race”? And most importantly: how doomed are we?

When it comes to envisioning the future, what’s your type? The Positive? The Negative? The Uncertain? The Disconnected? No, these aren’t characters in a pop group or a teen movie – they’re the four ways of imagining a European future. So says Paweł Zerka of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a three-peat guest and true Friend of the Podcast. Paweł is back once more to walk us through this year’s European Sentiment Compass, “Future Nostalgia: Europe’s Unfinished Song”. Come for the Dua Lipa reference, stay because you’re a polling nerd like the rest of us. We’re also talking about British lawmakers’ quest to figure out why the UK does quite so badly at Eurovision and what the seizure of Nestlé and Auchan’s Russian assets says about the Kremlin’s finances.

This week, we’re attempting to solve some tricky problems. How can the EU tackle the ballooning housing crisis? Can we revive a cinema industry on death’s door? And how on earth can we get bureaucrats to communicate like human people in order to really, truly get something done? We’re unpacking plans for a new Affordable Housing Act and Macron’s attempt to save le cinéma, and we’re also getting an exclusive from the EU’s Directorate General of Memes, Satire, and Sober Fun, a.k.a. Fabio Mauri, the meme-maker who loves nothing more than to poke fun at Europe’s policymakers on Twitter and Instagram. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, et cetera.

Last week, tech giant Meta reached a settlement in a lawsuit with nearly every state in the US over claims that it had knowingly harmed children with its addictive apps. It was a major turn of events in the growing movement to protect kids online – but what does it mean for those of us on this side of the Atlantic? This week, we’re bringing you a fascinating chat with Leanda Barrington-Leach, the executive director at 5Rights, an international NGO that seeks to protect children’s rights and wellbeing on the internet. We’re also unpicking the CIA chief’s visit to Moscow and the surprisingly effective tariff placed on small parcels from China.

This weekend, Icelanders go to the polls to determine whether the nation should pick up its EU accession talks where they left off in 2013. Ahead of the big referendum, we caught up with Icelandic journalist Elias Thorsson and Finnish analyst Minna Ålander, to better understand what the vote means for Iceland and what it could mean for the Nordic countries and the greater European Union. Maybe you’re somebody who can prattle on about how the devaluation of the Icelandic króna benefits the country’s international exports…and maybe you’re someone who can’t exactly remember which Nordic countries are in the EU. No matter which type of person you are, we promise, this episode is for you.

This week, we’re asking some tough questions. Is the EU friends with the Taliban now? Is your 100% cotton shirt actually made of cotton? And, our favourite, “Why Did the Frankenchicken Cross the Road?” We’re taking on a few challenging topics this week, but the Funny Lady from Luxembourg is back in the co-hosting chair, so you know to expect a fair share of laughs, too. (Listen to the end to hear her impression of a Luxembourgish whale.)

Long-time listeners will know that in the early days of The Europeans, we had a semi-official ban on talking about a certain topic: Brexit, or as we liked to call it, ‘the B word’. A whole decade after the UK’s seismic referendum vote to leave the EU, have Katy and Dominic made their peace with the split? What kind of damage has it done, and is there any chance that it might one day be reversed? This week, with the help of some of our listeners, we’re facing the B word head on.

The European Union is many things: an economic powerhouse, an improbably successful peace project, or a bureaucratic hellscape, depending on who you ask. Most people would probably agree on one thing that it isn’t: funny. So when Susanna Kierkegaard set out to write Sweden’s first genuinely entertaining book about the EU, many might have dismissed the idea as a fool’s errand. And yet she has somehow pulled it off.

‘Art and politics can totally be separated!’ said no one ever – apart from the organisers of the Venice Biennale, a.k.a. the Olympics of the art world. This week we’re diving into the fallout from the Biennale’s decision to allow both Russia and Israel to participate. We’re also looking at a case study of why it’s so problematic to welcome Moscow to events that showcase its (Kremlin-approved) cultural offerings: the film Mr Nobody Against Putin, whose co-director Pavel Talakin, we are happy to report, has now happily been reunited with his mislaid Oscar. A round of applause for Lufthansa!

This week, we’ve got a little something for everyone: gambling! Kraftwerk! Blast from the recent US political past Tim Walz! It was a Good Week yet again for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the darling of the global left, who threw a party for… the global left. And it was a Bad Week for the legendary German electronic band Kraftwerk, who apparently have been around since 1970(!) and therefore can withstand the occasional bad week. We also caught up with Greek investigative reporter Eurydice Bersi, who was part of a team that uncovered a slew of streamers on places like YouTube and Twitch who’ve been directing their followers to unlicensed gambling sites – and profiting off it. We hope you enjoy. And stay safe out there.

Who are the Zohran Mamdanis of Europe, and when, pray tell, are they going to give our beloved, ailing continent a much-needed shake-up?

If you got a knock on your door from someone inviting you to Brussels to hash out some EU policies…you’d think it was a scam, right? Us, too. At least, that was the case until last week, when our producer Wojciech went to report on a European Citizens’ Panel, an event designed to allow 150 randomly selected Europeans to weigh in on some of the EU’s thorniest problems. This week we’re taking a deep dive into the ins and outs of what seems like the nerdiest game show ever. How do these panels work? What do they actually achieve? And crucially, are they worth the cost? 

Back when Elon Musk was challenging Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight, Eugen Rochko was building an open-source, non-problematic Twitter alternative, completely without fanfare. Last year, the Mastodon founder announced his departure from the head of the social media platform in a candid blog post, citing a growing discomfort with the role and an interest in preserving the site’s decentralised values. But Mastodon lives on, and – full disclosure – we’re all for it. This week, we spoke to Eugen about his dreams for the “fediverse” and about whether his vision for ethical, supervillain-free online communities has a promising future. In fact, we enjoyed the conversation so much that we’re releasing a longer version for supporters of the podcast.

This week, we wanted to ask a question that has been in our hearts and on our minds for years: Is it possible to try to make positive change in the world, and still stay healthy and sane? Dutch writer, political philosopher, and “recovering diplomat” Nori Spauwen believes that the answer is yes – even if it’s not always easy to strike the right balance. We chatted with Nori about “healthy” activism and training yourself to feel empowered in response to difficult news. If you’ve been overwhelmed lately (has anyone not?), this is a conversation for you.

You’d be forgiven for forgetting that Europe is bigger than Davos this week, but we’ve got three great stories to remind you. First up: it’s been a good week for Berliners making Kartoffelsalat, Kartoffelsuppe, Kartoffelknödel, et cetera et cetera, thanks to an initiative that is distributing more than 170 tonnes – TONNES – of potatoes across the German capital. Then we examine a newly leaked “Made in Europe“ proposal that seeks to promote industrial production in the EU (very very fun, we promise). 

You’d be forgiven for forgetting that Europe is bigger than Davos this week, but we’ve got three great stories to remind you. First up: it’s been a good week for Berliners making Kartoffelsalat, Kartoffelsuppe, Kartoffelknödel, et cetera et cetera, thanks to an initiative that is distributing more than 170 tonnes – TONNES – of potatoes across the German capital. Then we examine a newly leaked “Made in Europe“ proposal that seeks to promote industrial production in the EU (very very fun, we promise). 

If you are the sort of person whose New Year’s resolutions read something like: “(1) Shoot for the moon, (2) Do what you love, (3) Change the world” – have we got a guest for you! We’re joined this week by former Icelandic prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who resigned from office in 2024 in order to run for president and is now enjoying a second life as a successful crime novelist and climate activist. Be still, our hearts. We chatted with Katrín about the security threat that climate change and the current geopolitical instability pose to Iceland; her career in politics; and why she wanted to write fiction (“Doesn’t everybody?” she asked).

We are returning from our winter holidays feeling refreshed, renewed, and optimistic about 2026. Ha ha ha ha! No, but seriously, Trump’s capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores was the New Year’s gift that Europe certainly did not ask for, and it raises a host of alarming questions. Among them: Does this move grant a permission slip for Vladimir Putin to encroach even further into Europe? And what does this mean for Greenland?

If the winter blues have got you down, these two things might lift your spirit: (1) the Christmas section at your local Lidl, and (2) the news that a same-sex marriage in one EU country must be recognised in another. But how this ruling is going to be implemented across the bloc—especially in the countries where there are no civil partnership rights—remains to be seen. This week, we unpack the manifold questions raised by this big-step-in-the-right-direction decision. We also examine the Louvre’s controversial new ticketing policy. Is giving cheaper tickets to Europeans a form of discrimination?

It hasn’t been a Good Week for the climate since, er, 1820-something? And it wasn’t last week, either. But it is a good week for The Europeans, because we’re joined by Luisa Neubauer, one of Germany’s best-known climate activists. Luisa recently wrote a terrific piece for The Economist about Europe’s climate “vibe shift”. We got her insights on what has caused the greenlash and what we ought to be doing about it. It’s a thoughtful, self-reflective, heartening conversation we think you’ll enjoy. 

 We’re also talking about Brussels’ proposed “military Schengen” agreement, which would allow EU member states to move troops and equipment across borders relatively swiftly. (You don’t want to know how sluggish things are now.) And we’re taking a look at Slovenia’s troubling new “Šutar Law”, a security bill that is widely understood to target the Roma minority.